Renewal
by Scarlett-Whitecross20
Summary: Hey fanfic fans! This story I wrote a few months ago, but I hope you like it! I will try to post one chapter a day till all eleven are on here. Leave a comment on yours thoughts. Thx!
1. Renewal

Voltron: Renewal

Chapter one: Recap

"How is he?" Keith asked, standing in front of what looked like a cryopod.

"Well it's definitely no cryopod like that if the Castle of Lions, but a few days in here has done him some good." Ryner reported happily. She pressed a few buttons, and the pod opened with a weesh is what seemed like steam. Shiro stumbled slowly forward, his white hair flopping in his face. Keith caught him before he hit the floor.

"Easy, Shiro." Keith advised tenderly. The Black Paladin slowly recovered himself.

"What time is it? Where are we?" Shiro wondered weakly, rubbing the blurriness from his eyes. He looked down to where his right arm once was, only a metal cap remained to cover where Keith had sliced it off.

"We're on Olkarion." Keith told him softly. "After our battle with Lotor we came back here."

"We've been trying to figure out what the Galra plan to do now that... Lotor is out of the picture." Allura swallowed hard on those words, still feeling the pain of Lotor's betrayal.

"But what about the Castle?" Shiro continued, sitting down stiffly. "Shouldn't you be tracking their movements?" Everyone's smiles faded to be replaced with despair, as they all stared at the ground. "What? What is it?" Dread filling his heart, many thoughts coming to mind.

"The Castle of Lions has been destroyed. Many rifts were opened by Lotor's version of Voltron, with the ability to jump in and out of the quintessence field at will." Pidge told him sadly.

"What?!" Shiro was shocked. Allura stared at him quizzically.

"Your mind always trapped inside the Black Lion, and the Black Lion was there when we blew up the ship, closing the rifts. Don't you remember that?"

"I guess not," Shiro sighed. "The last thing I remember helping Keith reach you and part of the battle. Things went dark after that. The next things I remember is waking up surrounded by you guys." He sat down simply, gazing up at his friends.

"It seems that the process that brought you back has had an affect on your memory." Allura guessed.

"Or the Black Lion was protecting you for some reason." Pidge hypothesized.

"Yeah... maybe." Shiro nodded. Keith turned to face him and suddenly Keith's face flashed and turned to terror, as he saw himself pressing a glowing blade, coming from his right arm, getting closer to Keith's face. He was then zapped back out of it, grimacing a little he grabbed his head with his only hand.

"Shiro?! Are you ok?!" Keith cried confused by this.

"What is it, what's wrong?!" Allura feared the worst. As the wave of pain dissipated, he looked back up at Keith. Standing up again, he lightly touch the mark, as if hoping he was seeing things. But realizing he wasn't stepped back in despair.

"What ave I done?" He wondered aloud, looking at himself. Keith's eyes widened slightly.

"Nothing, this isn't your fault." He tried to reassure him.

"No." Shiro corrected the younger man. "What did I do to deserve this? To be captured and experimented on by aliens. To lose my arm to those same aliens. And to have others use my likeness to hurt those close to me, using my skills against them.-"

"Shiro." Allura interrupted," "you're not the only one who has been used. Lotor used me and my new alchemic knowledge to strengthen his ships and his grip on the quintessence field." Her eyes met his. "You're not the only one who's hurting because of it."

"Besides," Lance spoke up. "You aren't responsible for anything you did. The you that did this was a fake."

"The Shiro that attacked Keith and unleashed the kill virus in the Castle was under someone's else's control." Pidge added. Keith thought for a moment.

"I think we should look on to this. Whoever was controlling the fake Shiro may still be able to, and will try again if they can. We need to figure out how they did it so we can fix it so it won't happen again."

"Keith has a point who knows what kind of connection they had with the fake Shiro. And how much of it still exists. If at all." Allura agreed.

Shiro was laid on a table and a laser was scanning his body passing over his head and slowly continued down.

"I'm not finding anything." Pidge reported.

"We better keep looking, we don't want to miss anything." Allura decided. As Shiro lay there he suddenly felt a surge of energy race through him. He could hear the Black Lion talking to him and he was zapped back to the place he did not recognize. Coming back into reality, he shot up to a sitting position, hunching over and holding his forehead.

"Shiro?!" Keith cried coming forward.

"We have to go." The Black Paladin groaners. He got up of the bed and stumbled hastily away.

"Shiro!!" Allura called, as everyone rushed after him.

"Team get to the Lions." He told them, heading for the Black Lion's temporary hanger bay. The rest of the Paladins stopped and looking at each other, turned to carry out the order. When they had launched they all jetted after Shiro in Black. Keith was with him. Shiro wasn't sure where he going, but yet he still knew.

"Shiro? Where are we going?" Keith wondered, half frantic.

"I don't know." Shiro said simply,

his eyes glued to the screen.

"But you know, don't you?" He asked again.

"Sort of," Shiro answered, he turned to his friend. "It's hard to explain." Keith was puzzled something was different about Shiro. But Keith couldn't quite figure it out.

Shiro didn't let up, he continued on pushing his lion forward more the rest of the team could hardly keep up.

"Where is he going?" Pidge wondered quietly.

"He must know something we don't." Allura suggested.

"Apparently." Lance commented sarcastically. Shiro kept going, they tailed the Black Lion. Til it suddenly stopped and taking them all by surprise. The lion was still and stared out at their new location. And when the rest of the team looked they gasped.

"What is the place?" Hunk breathed.

"Yeah, anybody have any idea where we are?" Lance wondered aloud.

"I do." Keith spoke up. He paused with his eyes closed. "This is where I fought Shiro clone." He finished looking up again. Right after he said that Shiro was zapped back to that picture he'd seen before. The blade buzzed over Keith's face getting closer and closer. He then saw more of the things that transpired here. Attacking Keith and explosions going off and finally, his arm being sliced off. Coming out of it he pushed the lion on.

"Shiro, what are we doing here." Keith wondered.

" I don't know." Shiro responded, he, too, was trying to figure it out. Gliding through the wreckage memories flashed across both Keith and Shiro's minds. Some of which Shiro did not recall. The Black lion growled, Shiro seemed to half read its mind. "Let's go team." Shiro said, landing on another broken up rock. Exiting the lion, Shiro walked as if he had somewhere to go, but the truth was that he had no idea where he was going. But, yet, what he was doing felt right. He could hear the lion again. The team was barely keeping up, Shiro's train of thought seemed to be going a lot faster that theirs.

"Shiro!" Keith gasped, trying to keep up with him. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know, it just... feels right." Shiro replied. Keith stumbled making Shiro stop in his tracks. "Keith-"

"I'm fine! I'm good." Keith responded quickly getting to his feet, the space wolf nudged his hand gently. Shiro sighed with relief. But then, the ledge he'd been standing near crumbled beneath his feet. He let out a cry as he tumbled down the twenty-five-foot incline into a crater.

"Shiro!!!" Allura shouted after him, as the Paladins rushed to help their leader. Shiro hit the bottom so hard, he felt dizzy. Then the world seemed to fade away into darkness...

Shiro stood in darkness, looking around he saw where he was. It was the place they had been, but it looked different... cleaner. There were pods lining the edge of one of the platforms. Machinery on another, and a large round platform just below it. At that moment an explosion went off. And he saw himself and Keith engaged in an all out attack. Suddenly his head began to throb as the vision faded away. Back to the concerned and troubled faces of his friends.

"Shiro, are you ok?" Pidge cried, her voices seemed to echo back to normal. He slowly sat up, head still pounding. He sat with his knees up, resting his elbow on them and kept his head lowered, waiting for the pounding to stop.

"Yeah," he breathed, a little disoriented by the fall. Keith took Shiro's hand and slowly and carefully pulled him up on his feet. But feeling the pounding worsen, he fell to one knee.

"Easy Shiro. You must have hit your head from the fall." Allura guessed looking at the ledge behind them. Shiro stayed there for a second but hearing something again looked to his left. An object lay only but a few yards from him. Suddenly the throbbing became distant, standing up he cautiously approached the object. His head cocked to the right as he steadily neared the long cylindrical object. Looking at it more closely he saw it hand extremities... fingers. It looked like an old Galra sentry's arm, but more detailed and clearly more high-tech. It was like nothing he's ever seen.

Then yet another flash showed the moment his arm was once again removed from his body by Keith's hand. The end of the memory brought on the throbbing once more. Dropping to his knees he groaned as the dust settled. Keith immediately and to his side, recognizing Shiro's hand lying beside him, his eyes flashed. He, too, suddenly saw the memory zap it's way back to him.

"Shiro." He stammered. "How did you know this was here?" Shiro's eyes met his.

"I didn't." A seemingly non-existent light flashed on Shiro's deep brown eyes.

"Then how?-"

"I don't know."

Keith's eyes widened.

"The Black Lion." Keith our the pieces together. "It led you here!" He gasped. "Your connection is stronger than ever... I can feel it."

"Then perhaps the Black Lion is trying to tell us something." Shiro guessed.

"What ever it is, it has something to do with your arm. Which means we must take it back to Olkarion and examine it." Allura decided.

"And maybe we can salvage it for reattachment." Pidge agreed.

Keith picked up the decapitated arm and handed it to Pidge. Then he slung Shiro's left arm over his shoulder. And using their jet packs together, climbed back up the slope back to the lions. Black stood patiently waiting for its master to return. Suddenly Shiro's world began to spin, making him stop cold in his tracks.

"Shiro?" Keith said. No response the Paladins turned around. Shiro felt as though his head would explode, like something weighed upon in that had to be removed. Memories that he did not recognize flashed one by one, without ceasing.

"Shiro?!" Pidge called, kneeling beside him as he sank to the ground yet again, trying to get a response. Still nothing, Shiro tried to fight the flashbacks but couldn't seem to stop them from coming.

"Hang on." Allura said jumping into action. She knelt down to Shiro placing her hands on his temples. Felling her touch he tenderly grabbed her wrists, as if begging for help. Focusing herself, she began to glow and so did Shiro. And suddenly that weight that was almost crunching him finally lifted. His head still hurt, but it was no longer pounding. It was a truly welcomed relief!


	2. Answers

Chapter two: Answers

Keith sat Shiro downin the chair behind the pilot's in the cockpit of the Black Lion.

"There you go Shiro." He grunted softly, lowering his friends down carefully. "Rest."

Shiro just groaned weakly, relaxing back as instructed. Then Keith took his place at the helm, taking off after the other lions.

Back on Olkarion, Pidge had placed Shiro's former robot arm under a scanner. The lasers did their job making their way down the lifeless extremity. The screen lit up with Galra letters and numbers, beeping at them.

"The scanners detected something. But it's hidden deep within the arm's circuitry." Pidge reported. "I'll have to take a closer look, to determine what exactly it is."

"And how long will that take?" Lance asked suspiciously.

"Depends on what we find," Allura responded, setting some equipment on the table next to the arm. "And how long it takes to get there."

Shiro winced as he laid down, Keith helped him settle in.

"There you go Shiro. Just rest, it's been a long day already."

"Yeah tell me about it." Shiro sighed, giving a slight smile. Keith had seen this delirious, half-sarcastic, half-humorous attitude before. He suddenly was zapped back to when he was the Red Paladin. When he and Shiro were stranded on a dying moon, due to a wormhole malfunction. He remembered talking to Shiro while racing to get to his location. He recalled the fear he'd felt in knowing that Shiro was badly hurt from the battle with Zarkon's witch. He could hear him get worse every moment, it was one memory he wished would go away. Keith reluctantly plopped down on the bed next to his friend. He placed his hands on his knees, and arched his back.

"Hey Shiro..." he stared at nothing as he spoke. "How did you know your arm was there?"

"I don't know." Shiro sighed deeply, "believe me, I wish I did. It's just... these memories they.- I don't recognize them."

"Wait, memories? What do you mean?" Keith was suddenly in problem-solver mode.

"My memory is all bits and pieces. No surprise there." Shiro shrugged. "Except for the part where I don't recognize anything I'm seeing. The way I found my arm was because of these memories. They don't even ring a bell. I knew you had been attacked by a fake me. But I didn't know all of what happened that day."

"So you knew about the battle, and now you're starting to see it?"

"I guess so. But why or how is beyond me." Keith looked down and thought for a moment.

"What if it was the Black lion?"

"What?"

"The Black Lion, what if the Black lion knew of my battle with the clone."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"You we're trapped inside the Black lion's consciousness, right? What if your minds merged somehow? Maybe that same power it used to save you, gave you the ability to hear it's thoughts. And since Voltron seems to know things, at times, that we don't. It could explain all that has happened today." Realizing this fact, Shiro had to admit it did make sense.

Hunk stood watching Pidge wrestle with the wild vines of wires that made up Shiro's old robot arm. One after another,... she seemed to be searching for something. Lance studied them from a distance, trying to make sense of it.

"Finding anything?" Hunk asked breaking the heavy silence.

"Not yet." The Green Paladin sighed dryly. "At least nothing that's tell us anything useful."

"We have to keep trying." Allura insisted, leaning over the table with her palms down on the table, next to the arm. "For Shiro's sake if not ours. We need answers. And this arm may _be_ our only clue."

"What do you think it felt like?" Lance spoke up, to no one in particular. "Being trapped in the Black lion? Must've been extremely difficult, trying to tell us something we couldn't already see."

"I would have to agree." Allura sighed, shifting her chin to the right. "Any one of us should have noticed that something was wrong right from the start. Ever since we rescued him from that Galra fighter, I couldn't help but feel something a bit off about him. But I convinced myself that it was just because of whatever horrible things the Galra may have done to him, before he escaped again."

"Come on Allura." Lance tried to reassure her. "If any one of us should have known, it should be me. The incident with the astral plain thingy, when Shiro called out to me. I also got suspicious that something was up, especially when he said he didn't remember it."

"I don't think either of you are to blame." Pidge decided aloud. "I mean, if Keith had stayed instead of leaving to join the Blades... he would have figured it out a lot quicker. Because he's known Shiro for years, if you've noticed, they _were_ pretty close, even from the beginning. Keith knows him better than any of us. Which is why he figured out about the clone and where the real Shiro was so fast."

"Yeah," Hunk agreed. "And besides, we don't need to worry about who did what, because the real Shiro's back and he's ok and now we don't have to worry. Right?" Thinking about this for a moment, everyone nodded.

"Hey, I think I found something." Pidge said finally. Pulling aside another wire revealed a box.

"What is it?" Lance asked, taking a closer look.

"I don't know." Pidge was genuinely surprised by his anomaly. Taking a tweezer-like tool, she tapped the box a couple times. The box made a weeshing sound, with a cloud accompanying it. As the cloud settled in revealed...

"A Galra crystal?" Allura breathed.

"Like the ones Sendak used to take over the ship?" Pidge asked.

"So what does that mean?" Hunk wondered out loud.

"It means that we have an answer. But not necessarily the one we were looking for." Allura finished, she paused. "Get everyone."

"Ok, we're here Allura. What is this about?" Keith asked the Princess.

"Shiro's arm is powered by a Galra crystal. That is what gives it the ability to be used as a weapon and operate Galra technology." Allura explained. "And, with proper testing and re-adjusting, can easily be re-attached."

"That's great." Shiro was relieved.

"We will start immediately." The Princess reported happily. "So you should have you arm back in no time at all." Allura started to prepare the arm for testing.

"Wait,..." Keith stopped her, "are we sure this is a good idea?" He questioned. "I mean. What if there's something still in there that the Galra used to control the clone. Do we really want to risk it happening again?"

"Keith, I understand you concern." Allura told him compassionately. "But I assure you we will take every precaution to insure that that doesn't happen."

"And whatever happens we'll deal with it." Shiro told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That's what a team does. We look out of each other. Always." Keith's eyes dropped to the ground.

"Ok." He murmured softly.

"So how exactly does this work?" Shiro asked curiously, turning back to Allura.

"Well we'll have to do some testing on the arm's systems and re-program it accordingly. No telling how long that'll take." Allura explained.

"Then when everything is set, we'll re-attach it. It'll be a lot like surgery on earth." Pidge added.

"Welp, then I guess we'll leave you to it." Lance decided, thrusting his hand into his pockets and exiting the room. Shiro stood up from where he was, staring after the Blue Paladin.

"We'll send for you when we're ready." Pidge told him.

"Sounds good, Pidge." Shiro smiled down at her. He then turned to Keith, who was still sitting silently where he was. "Keith, up for some training?" Keith stood up quickly.

"Sure. But, what about your arm?" Keith answered calmly, a little concerned.

"Well I guess I'll have to get used to it until I get it back." The older man shrugged with a smile.

Keith and Shiro were going at it, Shiro held a sword with his left hand and no shield for protection. Keith did the same, he felt it wasn't fair for him to have one. They engaged each other again and again. And for a while Shiro was fine, but before long his arm began to tire. Keith sliced at him and he caught the blade with his own. But as Keith weighed down on it he couldn't hold it, and he went down to one knee. He let his blade down behind him, ducking under it, and Keith's slid off of it. Shiro dropped his sword and put his hand to the ground to steady himself. The two panted from the intense exercise. Keith stood hunched over with his hand to his knees, bayard still in hand.

"Shiro." He gasped between breaths. "Are you-"

"Fine." Shiro interrupted breathlessly, "you?"

"Fantastic." Keith breathed sarcastically. Neither one of them moved.

Shiro's arm had been placed in a dark purple liquid. They were running tests and diagnostics on it to see how they could make it safe to reattach.

"How's it looking, Allura." Pidge asked from across the room. Allura tapped away at the panel next to the tank, in which the arm was submerged.

"All systems are go, proceed." The princess smiled, giving a thumbs up.

"Hit it, Hunk." The Yellow Paladin tapped a few buttons on the panel in front of him and with one final press of a button, a blue liquid was infused into the tank. The liquids collided and mixed and a light began to build up, and then came an exploding flash that blinded everyone. And when the light died down, they looked at the tank to see Shiro's arm had morphed back to normal. "Yes it worked!!" Pidge cried excitedly. Hunk and Pidge shared a high five. While Allura just stared at their success, feeling as though she had just become a hero. "Get Shiro."

 **Hey what's up Shiro, fans chapter three will be released tomorrow. I will try to make I get to it as always leave a comment on your thoughts. And prepare for what's next. Thx!**


	3. Restored

Chapter three: Restored

Shiro awoke a little groggy, and the world was one blurred display of color. A display that was slowly becoming more and more defined and recognizable. And he was relieved to feel that he had both his upper limbs again. He was whole again! As his vision normalized, he was greeted by the thrilled and relieved faces of his friends around him.

"I'm back." He said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Yes, you are." Keith answered, with a smile. Shiro took him by the hand, and attempted to sit up.

"Woah, woah, woah, a- are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yeah." Keith stared suspiciously a him. "I'll take it slow." Shiro assured him, and Keith gave in. He pulled himself up with his left arm and slid to the side. He let his legs dangle from the table, and remained there. He knew he wasn't ready to stand quite yet. He looked back at his right arm. A white bandage covered the attachment point and his arm extended out from it, much to his relief. "I have my arm back." He gasped, the thought finally sinking in.

"Yep, and everything looks great!" Pidge reported proudly.

"That's great, Pidge." Shiro nodded. Her smile widened.

"It'll take some time, but you should regain full function of your arm in no time at all." Allura explained happily.

"That's good to hear." The Black Paladin responded, "guess I won't have to learn how to pilot the Black Lion with one arm after all." Keith half froze.

"You never did." He said, feeling a bit nervous.

"I know." Shiro's calm face made him softened his own. He realized that he was joking, and dropped his guard. Shiro finally worked up the courage to stand, half fearing his legs would not support him. He knew that he'd just undergone an extensive operation to reattach his arm. He didn't want to mess anything up,... even if it was unrelated to his arm. But to his relief, he held up just fine. "Have we been tracking the Galra's activity lately?"

"No, not really." Allura answered, unfortunately lowering her gaze. "We've mostly been focusing on you and your recovery, since we brought you back. And preparing to return to your planet Earth."

"Well then I think now's the time." Shiro was thinking like the leader he was already, and he'd barely been back for being in the Black Lion's mind. As they headed out of the medical bay, he was already devising a plan on how they were to start the search. And strategized according to all possible scenarios he could think of, as he often did. Shiro hadn't realized how much he enjoyed strategizing until now. He found it cleared his head, put him at ease,... relaxed. Scanning the map of the Galra locations, he began planning out his strategy.

"Ok, even though the galra are scattering themselves and falling out of line with the rest of the empire. We don't know what we're dealing with." Shiro remarked. "We may have more enemies, or, more allies. We will not engage any of these factions directly until we know more about their goals. We're sitting ducks without the Castle, so we need to head to Earth to begin the reconstruction. The sooner we finish it,... the better."

"Yes, but what about the Lions?" Allura remembered. "The galra know how to track them, and if they track them to your planet it could put it at risk. We must find away to ensure that they don't."

"Like cloaking the lions' signals?" Pidge thought out loud.

"Or hide them while we're on earth." Keith suggested.

"But then how would we get to earth without the lions?" Allura wondered.

"What about the other Altean transport ships?" Romelle suggested. "There are more of them at the colony, nobody uses them and they're in good condition considering their current situation."

"Then, I guess, we're headed to the Altean colony." Shiro decided.

"Which brings up another conundrum." Coran spoke up. "What are planning to do about the Alteans a _in_ that colony?"

"And what about that other colony?" Romelle reminded them. "Some of those Alteans are still alive. How do we undo the damage that Lotor has done?"

"We head to that colony and see what can be done." Allura responded, her determination masking the pain still in her heart.

"Well we have our plan, let's move." Shiro finished. They headed to the lions and set off for the colony. "Keith, you've been to the colony before. So I want you to take the lead on this one." Keith stared for a moment before taking his place at the helm of the Black Lion.

"Ok the colony is located in a treacherous area known as the Quantum Abyss. There's only an area that is safe for us to travel through the abyss without being stretched to infinity." Keith explained. "The colony is located on a moon facility just on the other side."

"Alright this area sounds extremely dangerous, so stay close and follow in a tight single-file formation so we don't get separated." Shiro instructed.

"Shiro," Keith continued. "That last time I was here I was seeing memories of the past,.. and future. Are you sure you don't want to find another way to get to the colony?"

"This is the only way we know how to get there, and time is of the essence. We can't waste anymore time than we have to, in replacing the Castle of Lions. Without it we're extremely vulnerable, and we can't have that. We have to get to the Altean colony as soon as we cahhhh!!!" Shiro was zapped back into memories of his time with the Galra and the battle with Keith. They came as pictures one after the other flashed through his mind. He returned to reality with a flash that hit him like a wave, grimacing a little. He fell to one knee, holding his head in his hands.

"Shiro!" Keith cried peering back. "You ok?"

"I'm fine." Shiro groaned. "Keep going."

"We're not even at the Quantum Abyss and you're already seeing things. Maybe we should-"

"No." Shiro insisted, "we'll keep going. You were able to deal with the flashbacks when you were there. I can too." Keith stared down at him.

"Ok." He lied, he really wasn't sure if this was a good idea at all, but still he continued.

The Quantum Abyss stretched as far as the eye could see, and beyond. It was the picture of chaos itself. Dark stars and space rocks were scattered throughout, debris, rock and a radiation belt were stretched out across the Abyss. The unstable star emitted the radiation as a pulse, ready to erupt any minute.

"Solar flares from that central dark star happen anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes apart." Keith explained. "And you'll know when it's going to happen."

"And how exactly will we know?" Lance questioned dubiously. A light interrupted their conversation, followed by an explosion of yellowish-gold light that rushed to meet them.

"Here it comes!" Keith warned them. "Brace yourselves!!" And as the surging field of gold hit them...

 _Keith remembered hearing about Shiro's disappearance._

 _Pidge saw her father, brother, and Shiro being taken by the galra._

 _Lance remembered finding the blue lion, and rescuing Shiro._

 _Hunk saw the time they were fixing the shield station, when Shiro accidentally lost the power due to a strong migraine._

 _Allura recalled meeting the Paladins this morning._

 _Coran saw the Castle of Lions going into the rift sealing it, and saving Shiro._

 _Shiro was on a Galra ship watching, himself be experimented on..._

"What just happened?!" Pidge didn't believe what she just saw.

"That's normal." Krolia assured them, from the Green Lion. "It's exactly what happened to us when we were here before." The scanner picked up the trail as she continued. "Now remember Keith there's only a small space in which space-time is not affected, so be careful where you lead us."

"I know." Keith breathed, he gripped the handles slightly.

"You can do this Keith," Shiro told him picking up on this. "No pressure." They continued on the invisible path through the abyss, thoughts and fears running across each of their minds. As another wave washed over them...

 _Allura was zapped back to when she and Shiro snuck aboard a galra ship, and the sacrifice she made for him._

 _Coran saw the courage Shiro had to make calls in battle, when Zarkon was tracking them._

 _Lance remembered the astral plain and Shiro calling for help._

 _Pidge could see the memory of Shiro's history of becoming the Champion._

 _Hunk watched the reruns of their arguments and how Shiro stayed calm through it all._

 _Krolia remembered Keith telling her about Shiro and what he'd done for him._

 _Keith saw the moment the clone Shiro attacked, remembering the pain he'd felt after their fight._

 _Shiro was being zapped through all memories at different times. They appeared randomly and with no apparent pattern. His head began to spin with all that had been going on..._

Shiro grimaced a little, the return to reality was beginning to get painful.

"Shiro, you ok back there?!" Keith asked peeking back for a brief second.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The Black Paladin responded "Let's keep going." They came to a red planet that looked almost like a large hot coal. Keith pushed Black forward toward the red and black rock. Coming upon the surface they jetted on, Keith led the team into a large chasm. He landed the lions here to hide them from view.

"This should keep them hidden from view while we're gone." Keith remarked, gazing up and the Lions. "Now come on, this way." Keith and Krolia took the lead down a path that appeared to have been traveled many times. Footprints were stamped into the dirt, giving way to the history of life living on this planet. What made these footprints was unknown to the team, but they had their guesses. One cave led into another. And carvings began to show up on the walls, each telling the story of how Lotor saved the Alteans and brought them here.

"No one can even look at these carvings now, for they will remind us of the lies we've lived for so long." Romelle told them. Keith, Krolia, and Romelle came to a rock wall,... a dead end? But a hidden control panel on the right side of the wall opened it, to a door hiding on the other side of it. The door also slid open and the Paladins filed into it and the doors closed behind them. The door was a gateway into another world of trees and grass and blue sky, much like earth.

"Our village is hidden in a clearing amongst the trees, this way." Romelle said, leading the way. They walked until the forest fell away and gave way to a display that made everyone gasp. They were frozen in awe of the place that lay before them.

 **What's up Shiro lovers! This story was a very 'ooo this sounds fun' type idea and I had try it. I was soo excited by all that happened in season six that I just had to write about what happens next. ️ Anyway stay frosty for the next chapter.**


	4. Joy and Sadness

Chapter four: Joy and Sadness

"Woah." Pidge breathed.

"The-... Altean colony." Gasped Allura. She knew this place existed, but to actually see it was the most wonderful thing in the world to her. "All these years I thought we were the last ones, and now..." she turned to her royal advisor. "Coran we're not alone anymore." They embraced, overwhelmed by the reality of their new situation.

"I know." Coran said, holding her close. "We're not a lost race after all.." They continued toward the village and walked down the narrow dirt streets.

"Despite the leadership of Lotor ruling over us, we have established our own sort of hierarchy here." Romelle explained, as children were running and playing together. A group of female Alteans were going about their house work. They were talking and laughing together, is if they didn't have a care in the world. Some male Alteans were building a structure that looked like another hut. Allura stared at their structures quizzically.

"What happened to the Altean alloyed houses like back on Altea?" She asked, her heart nearly about to break.

"Lotor told us that manufacturing the alloyed necessary to build our homes, like those of the fallen Altea, was too risky." Romelle informed her sadly. "He told us that if the galra discovered the alloyed somehow, it would compromise our safety here... probably just another lie I'd imagine." Romelle shook her head.

"Actually no." Allura corrected her. "It does make sense. The galra know of Coran's and myself's existence, but not of yours. If Zarkon was still alive and discovered that his son was hiding and protecting Alteans, he would stop at nothing to find them. The production of this alloyed would be a distinctive clue, because of its unique properties. The Alteans had used it for generations."

"And what about the new colony?" Romelle wondered hopefully.

"We'll head over to it and see what we can do. Once the colony is secure and everyone understands the truth about Lotor." Allura assured her.

"But Princess?" Coran realized. "If we're no longer the only ones. Then that means... they are your subjects. They are the Alteans, our people. We now have a responsibility to them." Allura froze in realization of this fact.

"You're right Coran." She breathed. "We have a chance to make our race great again."

"So what do you want us to do." Shiro asked. Allura thought for a moment, searching for the right trying to say.

"We tell them the truth, and try to gain their trust." The Princess decided finally.

"Then let us gather them in the square next to the Lotor statue." Romelle suggested.

"Of course."

"Alright we have our plan," Shiro concluded. "Let's move."

The Alteans went about their work and play, when a sound from above drew their attention. They were amazed and terrified to see five robotic lions fly through the air. They landed near the Lotor statue making everyone follow. Nine figures emerged from the lions accompanied by a blue space-wolf and four mice. Allura removed her helmet. Her white hair falling from the bands holding it up, and showering down over her shoulders. Her Altean marks glimmered in the sun and all who beheld her were in awe. Who was this stranger? They asked each other.

"I am Princess Allura. Daughter and successor of Alfor, king of Altea. And your new leader, your true ruler." The crowd was confused they looked from one another quizzically.

"Lotor has been lying to us for generations!" Romelle blurted out. "He's not our leader, or our protector, instead he has been using our culture for his own satisfactions."

Pain and disbelief rippled through the crowd. The truth coming out was harder to swallow than the team had imagined. Romelle burst into tears and buried her face in her hands. Coran pulled her close to comfort her.

"Lotor has betrayed you by his deceptive and corrupt ways." Allura continued. "But I intend to rectify his wrongdoings and restore the Altean culture to the greatness it once had. But first I must tell the truth about our race and it's origins." Allura then began the history of King Alfor and the process that led to the creation of Voltron. "These are the lions of Voltron, the creation of a great man. It is known as the Defender of the Universe. And it is here to protect our newly reborn race. I ask you now to look deep within yourself and see that this is the future of our culture that Lotor would never have given you. The question is... are you willing to join us?" The crowd was silent. Blankly staring, Allura squirmed nervously. But then one Altean took a knee and bowed their head in respect. Another followed, then a few more and a few more, until the whole crowd bowed to their princess.

"So what happens now, my princess." One Altean asked.

"We need to hide the lions here, but before we do that we need to head to the other colony and try to undo the damage Lotor has caused." Shiro saw another memory of himself handing over Lotor to his ex-generals. He came back to reality as if he'd been struck by lightning.

"Shiro? You ok?" Keith whispered

"Yeah." Shiro responded shakily. Allura glanced back and gestured to Shiro to come to her. The Black Paladin willingly responded to her non verbal command. "YOU, are the head of Voltron, they need to hear from you. To give them a sense of security in their time of doubt." Shiro nodded and faced the crowd.

"My name is Shiro, I pilot the Black lion of Voltron. I'm the leader of this group of people. Our mission is to protect the universe from those that seek to distroy it. We will do whatever it takes to continue that mission, and make sure that Lotor's actions are justified. No matter what it takes, but we can't do it alone. We need your support in our fight against Lotor. And your trust in Voltron as the Defender of the Universe." The crowd cheered in response showing their new found loyalty to them. Allura and Shiro turned to face their friends.

"Let's get to that second colony." Allura decided.

In no time, they were jetting to the other colony. "It shouldn't be much further." Allura informed them, coming upon a facility nestled in the crust of a midnight black moon.

When they had landed, the team proceeded to the entrance. Sliding open the door they peered into the darkness. The only light was a Galra purple glow of giant, six-foot-tall glass capsules full of quintessence. The whole wall was lined with these capsules, but only a few held quintessence.

"So how exactly are we going to fix this?" Hunk asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Keith agreed, as the team spread out in the large, silent facility. "And how do we know that we _can_ fix this?"

"Well," Allura sighed. "We don't. But we still have to try. Some of these Alteans can be saved, we just have to figure out how." She scanned the room for anything that might give her an indication of a solution. She wracked her brain to think of something. Pidge laid a hand on one of the capsules of quintessence.

"This quintessence has been harvested from these Alteans." She said. "If we can somehow reverse the process, we might be able to re-infuse them with their own quintessence to save them."

"You may be right, Pidge." Allura sighed again. "But I fear some of these Alteans are too far gone to be saved."

"Then let's make sure that doesn't happen." Keith decided confidently.

"Allura, is there a way to save these Alteans?" Shiro asked, after they'd been looking around for a while.

"I think so." Allura confirmed. "If we use up the rest of the quintessence in these capsules, and using the alchemic knowledge I got from Oriande to create Synthetic Quintessence, it could work."

"Wait what?" Lance was confused.

"Synthetic Quintessence is more potent than the quintessence we're used to. It is so potent that you don't need to use as much as you might think." Allura explained. "By increasing it's potency, we can make it go a lot further into saving as many lives as possible."

"So you don't think it'll save all of them." Lance concluded bluntly. Pain flashed in Allura's eyes in hearing this fact. She closed them tightly, then suddenly felt brave.

"We're going to try." She decided.

"But Princess," Coran protested. "Synthetic Quintessence hasn't been made in years. All the Alteans with that level of skill are all gone."

"I know." Allura replied, "that's why I'm going to do it." The team froze.

"You can do that?" Pidge asked, half in shock.

"But you may not have enough power to save all of them." Coran pried, trying to change her mind.

"And who knows if the synthetic quintessence will be enough still."

"Then that's a risk we'll just have to take." Allura insisted firmly. Pidge and Hunk worked at the control panels on the capsules and on the facility's main circuitry board.

"Ok," Pidge said finally. "Everything's set, do your thing, Princess." Smaller viles of a green liquid were mounted on top of the capsules, ready for infusion.

"Begin the infusion process." Allura instructed. With a press of a button the green solution was released into the purple quintessence making it glow. Allura placed her hands on the capsules and focus her Altean energy into this substance. The liquid slowly turned a light blue and then a golden yellow. This new substance then began a journey through the pipes of the facility, snaking around to each one of the hundreds of pods that contained the helpless Alteans. The pods began to glow and the silhouette of the Alteans could still be seen, as the quintessence filled their nearly lifeless bodies. Allura continued to push through, trying to keep going. The glow got brighter and brighter until everyone had to shield their eyes from it. The light then engulfed the entire room, and when it died down... the capsules opened and the liquid in which the Alteans were submerged washed way at once. And a dispersal of gasp spread throughout the giant room.

 **How's it hanging fans! My stories may seem a little redundant at times, so I apologize. But I love Shiro and whenever I get ideas on a new story for him it always seems to begin in a similar way. I just try to diversify the description of it carefully so it doesn't seem so similar. But as I said more stories are yet to come. Also as always my stories do not include shipping or romantic interactions with the characters. But I hope you still enjoy. Stay hyped! Peace!**


	5. PTSD

Chapter five: PTSD

The Paladins rushed to recover as many Alteans as possible. An Altean with long white braids jumped at the sight of a figure looming over her.

"Do not be afraid." Allura told her soothingly. "I am Princess Allura. Accompanied by Voltron. We're here to help you. Lotor will not harm you anymore." Romelle did what she could to help anyone she could, but a certain Altean stumbled out of his capsule that Romelle thought she'd never see again.

"Patrulious!" She gasped, running to him. She slung his arm over her shoulder.

"Romelle?" The young man groaned hoarsely.

Using the transport cargo ships locked in a separate hanger, they gathered up the Alteans to take them back to the colony. Once there they tended to them and reunited them with their families.

"Unfortunately a few Alteans were too far gone to be saved." Allura announced sadly. "But for those of you whom we have saved, we hope that this second chance at life will be well worth waiting for. We cannot change the past, but we can make a better future together."

"Thank you,.. Princess." Patrulious managed to say, he was still weak and hoarse even after all he'd been through today.

"Allura, we need to destroy that facility, so no one can use it for something like this ever again." Shiro pointed out.

"Yes, your right." Allura agreed. "We must destroy that place so no one can ever use it again, even Lotor."

The lions lined up readying their weapons for destruction. And then together, they blasted the facility til almost nothing was left. All that remained, now, was a graveyard of debris. And the team couldn't have felt more relieved.

"Alright team, let's head back to the colony, so we can-" Shiro grimaced as a painful pressure landed on his head. His arm sparked electricity, and the Black Lion emitted these shockwaves and squirmed awkwardly in the air.

"Shiro?! What's going on?" Allura cried, seeing the Black Lion's odd behavior.

"Shiro? You ok?" Keith asked peering over his friend's shoulder. As the team continued to call his name their voices were drowned out . He was numb the to outside world, because it felt like his little world was crashing in on him. He then saw a magical purple hand summoning a mysterious mark on the surface in which it was touching. And just like electricity, his right arm was repelled with a zap causing the lion to become still and sending Keith sliding down open room behind the cockpit. The lion then straightened itself out and Shiro recovered his grip on reality.

"Shiro, What was that?" Allura asked again more firmly.

"I-.. I don't know." The Black Paladin stammered in disgust. Keith groaned and held the back of his neck as he came back up to Shiro. Shiro was horrified by this sight. "Keith!! I'm-... I'm so sorry. I-" Now he felt worse. He immediately rose from his position. "I think you should fly the Black lion." He decided, "it's probably safer."

"It's ok Shiro. You can do this." Keith tried to reassure him. "I know you can."

"Keith, I can't... I'm becoming too dangerous. We-.. I can't risk it."

"Shiro we can fix this we just need to find.-"

"We already have a mission. One that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. The more time we waste waiting, the longer we're vulnerable."

"But this is important, you're apart of this team. If we're even one soldier down in this battle, we're even more vulnerable. And we can't fight this battle with out you." Shiro and Keith stared at each other for a few minutes, but it felt like forever.

"Ok." Shiro's gaze softened. "Then what do you have in mind?" Keith smiled.

"Pidge do we still have those mind probs that we used to envision Voltron?" He asked, on the open com, without breaking his gaze.

"I think so, why?" The Green Paladin responded.

"I've got an idea. But we'll need to go back to Olkarion to do it." They instructed the Alteans to tend to their weakened friends, before starting the treacherous journey back through the Quantum Abyss. As they traveled through, a solar flare washed over them again.

 _Lance remembered Shiro calling to him in the astral plain, and the pain he'd felt for not listening to it._

 _Hunk recalled Shiro commending him for trying to save Shay and her people from the Galra._

 _Coran remembered how frustrated Shiro got with sitting on the sidelines, while Keith was off on blade missions._

 _Allura reminisced about how supportive Shiro was when Zarkon continued to track them down through the Black Lion._

 _Pidge saw the man who protected her from that galra Ro-beast that attacked them on Arus. And the one who encouraged her that they would find her family._

 _Lance recalled the clone Shiro telling him he didn't feel like himself._

 _Keith remembered the battle he'd had with the clone._

 _And Shiro could hear the sounds and voices of the ghosts of his past. Tormenting him with everything they had, their grip on him was so intense that he almost broke under the pressure._

They all came back in a flash.

"Man, I will never get used to that!!" Lance cried

"I have." Shiro mumbled to himself, looking at the ground.

"And that's the third or fourth time I've seen some memory having to do with Shiro." Pidge broadcasted.

"Wait really?" Lance was surprised.

"I think I know what you mean." Hunk agreed.

"Now that you mention it, your right." Allura collaborated.

"Wait are you guys serious?" Keith asked. "You've all seen memories only having to do with Shiro?"

"Yeah." Each of them said.

"Then what does that mean?" Pidge continuing the conversation. Shiro still stood hunched over behind the chair, trying to fight of the visions. He held his head in his hands and tried to ignore it, but failed miserably. Shiro stopped trying and the pressure finally ceased,... at least enough for him to focus again.

Shiro sat cross-legged on the floor, Pidge was busy attaching probs to his bare chest, forehead and back. After attaching each one she would tap away at her computer.

"Ok. Everything is almost set." She reported happily. "And one more thing here." She handed him the mind prob, so he placed it on is head. She then took another and placed it on her head.

"So what now?" Shiro asked curiously.

"We wait." Allura replied. Shiro blinked, then looked at the floor.

"This test is just to see how your mind works." Pidge explained. Shiro froze.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" He questioned.

"The only way to know how to help you, is to know how your mind works. Knowing your strengths weaknesses, and what triggers certain responses."

"If you ever feel like it is too much for you to handle, we can stop if you need to." Allura told him.

Shiro nodded slowly. "Ok." Silence fell, as the two Paladins close their eyes. Shiro waited for something to happen, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He remembered using the head probs for a unity test. As he thought further his thoughts manifested, flickering into view for the team to see and then out again. As Shiro continued to think, his thoughts were interrupted by his unrecognizable memories and of his past endeavors. The expressions on his face showed he was trying to fight it. With the devices in their heads, Pidge began to hear Shiro's thoughts. She could see his memories, what he was seeing, in her own mind's eyes. The clone's attack on Keith, the Kerberos missions interrupted by the Galra's attack, and the experimentation that took place on him. Pidge instinctively grabbed the head piece and threw it down. It clicked and clacked on the floor. Seeing the looks on her friends faces, she realized that she was breathing heavily. Shiro looked like he'd seen a ghost, his thoughts still plaguing him. The monitors on her computer were going haywire. She began tapping at the keys tracking the algorithms pulsing across the screen. Suddenly the pulsing, which had been moving quicker than Pidge liked, surged turning red. "Oh no," she said, then going up to Shiro. "Shiro? Shiro!" She shook him by his shoulders. Shiro finally opened his eyes. His breaths came in gasps, but began to subside as he calmed down.

"What the heck just happened?" Lance asked half freaking out.

"I don't know," Pidge admitted. "But I wasn't expecting this kind of response."

"Not expecting it?!" Keith nearly lost it. He came to glare down at her as he'd done once before. "You should've expected it. You know how messed up he's been since he was a prisoner. We don't even know what the Galra have put him through?!"

"Well at least I'm trying to help fix it!" Pidge protested defensively.

"Well you're not fixing it, your just making it worse!!"

"How do you know Keith, you haven't given her a chance to say anything!" Lance put in.

"Stay out of this Lance.-"

"Alright knock it off!" The Black Paladin raised his voice. "Let's just take joy in the fact that I'm alive and well. Everything's fine... I'm fine.-"

"No you're not." Keith insisted. "You're not fine, you've never been.. fine. Not since you were taken by the Galra. They experimented on you and took your arm. So no, no you're not fine. You're-"

"I know." Shiro interrupted intensely, he sighed. "I know. But it's not from what you think...

I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when I was only eighteen years old." Keith's eyes widened, but Shiro continued. "My military background helped me advance a lot faster in rank at the Garrison... Several of my superiors agreed that I was finally ready and I was sent on my first actual mission. It was a success, but the second... we crashed. It wasn't my fault but.. I was the only survivor. My sergeant and two other students died that day... Including one of my best friends. When the Garrison tracked us down in another ship, they retrieved us and rushed me to an intensive care unit. I was there for five days, before I was taken home to rest. I haven't been the same since. I had the nightmares and the panic attacks, and the flashbacks that I have now. I scared my family because of what I saw that day. I was put into counseling to deal with and control my condition when I was diagnosed. The Galra didn't cause it, but it certainly didn't help it any." Keith looked sheepish.

"I'm sorry Shiro." He mumbled.

"No. You had no way of knowing. I would never talk about it for a long time. I still don't at times." The Black Paladin shook his head. Keith stared at him for a moment, then walked away. Shiro called after him, but Keith didn't stop. Shiro stared after him, and immediately felt bad.

 **Hey guys how's it hangin'? Just to let you guys know that Shiro's PTSD has been confirmed, this is a cool way of explaining how it happened. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story!**


	6. Growing Pains

Chapter six: Growing Pains

Keith was staring out at the city of Olkarion. Shiro stood there watching him from a distance. The boy who had become a man, because he, himself, decided never to give up on him. He strode up next to the younger man.

"Hey." He said softly.

"I feel like an idiot." Keith snapped.

"You're not the idiot." Shiro defended. "I am... I should've told you. If you should be mad at anyone... it should be me."

"I'm not mad." Keith's voice softened, not breaking his outward gaze. "I just wish I'd known."

"I know." Shiro agreed sitting down next to him. "And that's my fault. But Pidge is trying to help. She's trying to understand my condition, so she can try to help. And the only way to do that is to understand the triggers and responses to it."

"I know." Keith mumbled. "I should've gotten all defensive. I know you don't need anyone to protect you."

"Maybe I was wrong about that." Shiro admitted. And Kieth stared over at him. "Maybe I do need someone to protect me. Someone like you."

"Me wha-"

"You've saved me on many occasions. You've never given up on me, the same way I didn't give up on you. Even when I was trapped in the Black Lion, I knew you were still trying to find me. Even if I couldn't help you... I love you Keith. You're like a brother to me too." Keith's blank stare bent up into a smile, Shiro returned one and stood up. "Now let's go talk to the others." He extended a hand to him. Keith took it and Shiro pulled him up, and they walked back inside together.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you Pidge." Keith apologized, "you were just trying to help Shiro. And I get that."

"I'm sorry too." Pidge admitted, "I should've put you in that position Shiro." Shiro smiles caringly down at the girl.

"Hey, the best way to know how to fix a problem, is to observe it first hand. I just hope that what you saw doesn't affect you for the rest of your life, like it does me." He paused. "Seeing what I see and how it affects me, is the best way to know how to improve it."

"Well- in that case the information gathered from the test has shown us some things." Pidge reported slowly.

"Good." Shiro smiled. "Then that means we have something to go on."

"The test shows that when you experience anything from your traumas it begins to affect your physical body as well." She pointed to the sensors on the screen. "Basically brainwaves And heart rate rise slowly, until they put you in some sort of daze. One that raises your heart rate to unstable rhythms, and it seems hard to escape."

"What do you're saying he's seeing things? How nuts do you think he is?" Lance questioned, crossing his arms.

"Ha, it's ok, I know that I see things." Shiro confirmed humorously. "All the time."

"His hallucinations are memories being turned into living nightmares." Pidge continued. "Ones he has no control over, hence why he's struggled with boarding Galra ships and stuff... at least in the beginning. Ptsd doesn't really have a known trigger, because it's different for every person. Shiro's trigger happens to be anything related to the galra and their science and war culture."

"So-.. can we fix it?" Keith wondered curiously.

"Well we can try brain stimulation. It can calm the part of his brain that creates the hallucinations, and trick it into thinking good thoughts."

"Sounds like a plan." Shiro smiled. They re-placed the probs on his head, and a few more for good measure. The wires attached to them ran down to Pidge's computer, like before,... to track their operations.

"Ok, the stimulators will run for about fifteen minutes and it should calm the bad mementoes you're seeing." Pidge explained. "And you may feel some vibration, but don't worry, that's normal.

"Ok." Shiro nodded. He drew in a deep breath, and laid his head back in his chair. "I'm ready." He closed his eyes and relaxed as best he could. And a very cliche question lingered at the back of his mind, one that he refused to verbally address. Will it hurt? His question was soon answered by a constant soft vibration, this was more his speed. He relaxed more knowing that he was fine, he even found it refreshing and could feel his entire being become totally one with itself. Quiet. Peaceful. Safe. A slight smile came as only a hint to his lips. He was so zoned out, that all he could hear was his own breaths and the steady thump of his heart. And for once in his life, his mind felt empty. It was a welcomed relief for the Black Paladin, at least considering his situation.

"Is he ok?" Hunk seemed nervous. Allura smiles softly.

"I think so." She responded happily. "This the first time I've ever seen him fully at peace."

"Yeah." Keith spoke up. "Me too." He couldn't hide the smile that had found itself on his face.

"Well except for when we played Monsters and Mana for the first time." Coran pointed out. Everyone stared at him. "Oh, right." Coran sighed reading their minds. Silence fell, as they watched the steady rise and fall of Shiro's chest. He seemed to almost be sleeping, but in fact he was just out of reality at the moment. And the Black Paladin couldn't have been happier, for once in his life when was fully at ease. Shiro hadn't felt this good in years, it was an experience he wished would never end. He almost feared what it would be like when it did end. But when the vibration ceased... nothing happened, he was just surrounded by his close friends which was also a good thing for him.

"So?" Allura began, "how do you feel?"

"Great!" Shiro breathed. "I haven't felt this relaxed in a long,.. long time."

"You mean it actually helped?" Pidge was surprised.

"Yeah I guess so." The Black Paladin beamed. "You see, answers are worth looking for-" Shiro let it a painful cry, as his world suddenly became white void. Turning around he saw a building and a familiar figure standing in front of it. She had just exited the structure and had a mysterious glow about her. Her skin morphed from a Galra purple to a brownish tan in seconds, and her eyes revealed her pupils once again.

"Shiro?!" Keith's voice tore him out of the trance and back into the real world. He realized now that he had thrust himself out of his chair and onto the floor, landing in his knees. Some of the wires had somehow disconnected themselves from his body, but Shiro could guess the reason.

"I saw at a place, and Zarkon's witch." Shiro gasped finally.

"What?! Where? Where was she?" Allura asked urgently.

"I don't know, she came out of some white pyramid-like building with a giant eye on it. I've never seen anything like it. And she seemed.. different." Allura was confused, but her blank, questioning stare was replaced with anger when she realized the familiarity of his description.

"Oriande." She spat under her breath.

 **How's it going fans! Now this story is just some theories that I'd like to have revealed in the show. Hopefully before it ends in December. But for now enjoy the story!**


	7. Never Again!

Chapter seven: Never again!

"What, but that's impossible?!" Coran reminded them in disbelief.

"That's got to be it." Allura insisted firmly. "How do you think she developed the ability to create wormholes and take full control of the Shiro clone? The secrets of Oriande could have given her more alchemical knowledge, giving her the ability to do both."

"But how does Shiro know?" Lance wondered, "he wasn't even here at the time, at least, not really."

"I don't know." The Princess admitted. "But something is happening here, and I think, now, that Haggar has something to do with it. She created this clone, and got into Oriande to learn how to control it."

"So that facility where the clone attacked me at,.." Keith trailed off, putting the pieces together. "Was a place where the witch created the clones."

"Exactly." Allura nodded.

"So what does that mean?" Lance wondered.

"Well the clone's mind may not be there anymore, but the clone's body may still possess remnants of it."

"Well, then would it explain why I've been seeing memories that aren't mine?" Shiro spoke up. The team stared at him.

"What memories?" Pidge asked quickly.

"You've been seeing the battle I had with the clone." Keith realized.

"And others." Shiro added, "ones I don't recognize at all."

"Wait, if he's seeing flashbacks of things he's never seen, then that means the clone's memories may still be intact." Hunk concluded.

"Which means they could be useful." Allura finished, she turned to Shiro. "Do you remember anything else?"

"Uh, not really no." Shiro sighed. "But if Zarkon's witch has gained the ability to control the clone, shouldn't she be able to do it again?"

"Technically, yes." Pidge confirmed. "But when Keith and the clone Shiro got caught in the explosion, destroying the facility she may have lost contact with it. The damage to the clone when Keith cut off his arm, must have been great enough to sever her control over it. After all Keith did say that the clone became more like the real Shiro right afterwards. Haggar must have thought that after she lost contact, that it had been destroyed, and doesn't know that the real You is back inside her clone's body."

"So-.. it's possible?" Keith inferred.

"Yes." Pidge sighed finally.

"But as we've said," Allura reminded them. "Haggar may not even know her clone is still alive,... well.. sort of."

"So, say that you're right." Keith began, "What do we do about it?"

"Well, I'm not sure." Allura sighed. "But we'll keep trying to find out."

"But until then, maybe we should give Shiro a break." Krolia suggested. And everyone nodded in agreement. The space wolf nestled its head in Keith's hand, asking for attention. And Keith gladly knelt down to ruffle its big, fluffy neck.

"So, what do you guys wanna do now?" Lance wondered finally.

"Well," Allura began, "since we still don't know what's causing Shiro's flashbacks, the best thing we can do is continue to treat him with the brain stimulation. It seemed to help, for a little while at least."

"And what about going to Earth?" Hunk added.

"Perhaps someone on Earth could help him." Pidge suggested.

"It's worth a try." The Princess thought aloud. Shiro had been leaning against the wall this entire time, listening in on the conversation in front of him.

"It may be our best option at the moment." He shrugged. So with that, they headed for their lions. Setting a course for earth, they set out. They were just coming up on Kerberos, when the Black lion suddenly started veering towards it. Shiro tried to stop it, but he could hear the lion talking to him.

"Woah, Shiro where are you going?" Keith asked, unsure of the reason behind the sudden change of course.

"I don't know." Shiro sighed. "But the Black Lion is drawn to something down there. Guess we should find out what,... It may be important." Setting down on Kerberos they exited the lions. The Paladins looked around, none of them had ever been to Kerberos, with the exception of Shiro.

"Woah." Keith breathed. "So this is Kerberos."

"Sure looks normal enough." Pidge commented.

"Cause it is." Shiro confirmed. "The temperatures, lack of oxygen and solar flares are the worse things to deal with out here." Shiro suddenly looked confused.

"Shiro? What is it." Allura asked, picking up on this. Starting to hear a faint rumbling noise.

"Do you feel that?" Shiro asked looking at the ground. He looked up and suddenly saw in his mind's eye something coming up towards them. "Look out!!" Shiro cried, lunging at Allura. He pushed her out of the way as the ground where she had been standing burst open, and a large, ugly creature rushed forth. The creature was long and skinny but very big, and let out a screeching roar, as it's three toothy jaws peeled away exposing many more rows of spinning teeth.

"What the heck is that?!?!" Lance screamed.

"I don't know." Shiro told him. "I've never seen that thing before!!" The creature dove down and disappeared down a freshly dug hole. The ground still vibrated, and Shiro was somehow able to read it like it was a book. "Keith, watch out!!" Keith summersaulted as the creature came up again, missing Keith and dove down again. "Pidge step back!" The Green Paladin took a few steps back as the creature burst out again, and disappeared yet again. The Paladins were now in a circle facing outwards, waiting for the creature to show itself again. Shiro stood in the center of it. "Scatter!!" He cried, and the Paladins ran straight ahead of them. Shiro was blindsided by the creature bursting out right behind him. It caught him in its jaws and threw him up into the air, opening its mouth to swallow him whole.

"Shiro!!" The team cried in horror. The Black Paladin flailed in the air about to be eaten by this ferocious beast. The world suddenly started to move in slow motion when...

Swoop!! The Black Lion swooped down and caught Shiro in its mouth. It flew up to look down at the snarling creature. Black was then joined by the rest of the lions. Getting to the helm of Black, he prepared to attack. "Ok, let's save our friends." He told the lion. He pushed it into battle followed by the other lions. Black flew down parallel to the surface of Kerberos, plunging faster and faster toward the creature. It snarled at the other Paladins about to attack, when it was blindsided by the lions all ramming into it together. Black bit down on the creatures flesh hanging on tightly. The Red, Green, Yellow and Blue lions landed in a defensive circle to let their pilots back in.

"Let's go!!" Princess Allura shouted running to Blue. The Paladins hastily returned to their lions Keith and Krolia riding with Allura, and Coran and Romelle with Pidge.

"Now we've got to help Shiro!" Keith cried. The creature coiled it's tail around the Black lion and threw it several feet away from it. Shiro was thrown from the chair, and tossed around from tumbling on the ground. Black lay still as Shiro recovered himself, returning to his place the creature was surging towards him. The spines lining its sides acted as many legs moving it closer to him. It moved like a snake dragging its belly on the ground and a centipede with the several hundred legs. This Granipede was like nothing Shiro and ever seen. The spines on its back stuck straight up making it look more terrifying. It had three big, midnight black eyes on which he could see the Black Lion's own reflection, as it came closer. Shiro tried to get the Black lion up, it had just start to drag itself up when the Granipede's spiky tail wrapped around Black's midsection. It coiled around him like a python tightening its grip, trying to crush the Black lion, with him in it! Shiro tried to break free of the creature's grasp but it was too strong for him.

"Team where are you!" Shiro cried desperately. "I could use some backup!"

"We know, we're on it." Keith confirmed over the com. "Just hang in there." The Black's screen began to fluctuate, and the Lions metal creaked with the pressure that was building. Shiro brought out the jaw blade, but it made no difference.

"It's armor is to strong!" Shiro spat to himself in frustration. The creature continued to squeeze, when a shower of lion blasters made it roar angrily. It dropped the Black lion and left to attack the other lions. The creature had held them so high off the ground, that when Black hit the ground Shiro hit his head and blacked out...

Shiro's vision was blurry, as he came back into consciousness. He could hear the others calling his name, and saw that they were fighting the creature alone. His head thumped a little as he lifted it up slightly, Black lay on its side and was as motionless as he was. He tried to get up, but a sharp stabbing pain in his right side stopped him. The pain was so bad, he could feel it with every breath. His left wrist hurt a little when he grabbed the handles to get Black lion up. He pushed hard to get Black up, the lion started to shift itself so it could stand, but his wrist felt weak and slipped. The lion's head was up with its chin resting on the ground, so at least Shiro was upright again.

"Shiro are you ok?!" Keith cried again, his worried face coming up on the screen.

"Yeah." Shiro groaned. "But the Black Lion's struggling.

"Will you be ok?"

"I think so, I'll see what I can do. But we have to get rid of that thing before it tears all the lions apart."

"You're right, we'll take care of it... you do what you can for the Black lion." Shiro gave him a nod and disconnected. Shiro sat and watched the other lions battling the Granipede, he gripped the handles in frustration. He closed his eyes and focused.

"Come on." He murmured to the lion. "We have to help them. They can't do it without us." The Black paladin was silently communicating with the lion, trying to help it.

The Green lion rolled back landing on its feet. "Ahh!! We're not getting anywhere with this! The lions can't take much more of this!"

"I know, but we have to get this thing to go away." Keith agreed. "Everyone attack at the same time. Maybe it'll retreat when sees it's outnumbered." The four lions kept together, but we're all sent back as the creatures tail swung around knocking them all back again.

"Ugh, we'll never beat this thing!!" Lance groaned. A snarl made them look up, the creature loomed over the Red Lion, about to lunged down upon its prey... Slice!! The Black lion flew by slicing the creature in the process.

"Use your jaw blade attacks, if we each attack in turn with our blades it'll back down." Shiro instructed. The Paladins brought out their jaw blades and followed Shiro's lead. One at a time, they jetted around the creature nicking it as they slipped past it. And after a while, the creature retreated just as Shiro said, but not before before hitting Black with its tail sending Shiro spinning off randomly. He tried to recover himself, but it was hard on his wrist. He couldn't hold it steady and his hand slipped and he hit the ground hard. The pain in his side erupted on impact.

 **Hey guys hope you're liking where this story is going! Be sure to leave you're thoughts in the comments! Thx!**


	8. Time To Regroup

Chapter eight: Time To Regroup

The team entered the Black lion, and were shocked to see Shiro picking himself up of the ground. He was on all fours, wondering whether to stand or not.

"Shiro, You ok?" Keith asked, taking his right arm and slinging it over his shoulder. His demeanor was very different than before. His movements were slow and stiff, and tender. Straightening out Shiro felt the pain stab him in the side again and he hunched over in response. He put his left hand to the source of the discomfort. Feeling warmth he glanced down at his hand,... blood. Shiro's breath quickened, as if he were about to panic.

"Shiro?!" Keith gasped. "How did you,-"

"No time!" Shiro groaned breathlessly. "Need- to lay down." He acted as though he was drowning. Keith did what he was told and helped Shiro lay down in the cargo hold. He was about to stand up with the other Paladins, but Shiro grabbed his arm intensely and pulled him closer to him. "Keith." He breathed firmly. "My ribs- are broken... and- are pushing against- my lungs. I can't- breathe... you have- to set- the breaks."

"But Shiro I-"

"Do it Keith!" Shiro coughed. "Feel- for the bone, use- your thumb and forefinger... to straighten it out- and line it up... with the other piece."

"But I-"

"Do it." Keith finally obeyed. Following Shiro's instructions he felt for the bone with his right hand. And with two short maneuvers, used both hands to set the breaks. Shiro rived in agony, as the bones were returned to their proper places. And was followed by a gasp and some coughing, Shiro was now upright and hunched over. He gasped for air, which was finally catching up with him.

"We've got to properly set these." Allura insisted helping him up.

Shiro was put in one of his white tank tops, which was rolled up to expose the open wound.

"It appears the bone has punctured through the skin, this wound is extensive." Allura reported, inspecting it carefully. Pidge was wrapping Shiro's left wrist to stabilize it.

"And your wrist is broken too." The Green Paladin told him, finishing the wrap. "What happened?" Keith asked. "How did you get so hurt?" Shiro groaned as he began a reply, and as Allura tended to his wound.

"When the creature dropped us... and threw us around, I was tossed around inside the Black lion. I'm surprised I'm even still alive." The Black Paladin said simply, his voice slightly hoarse. Lance handed him his shirt, and zipping it on Allura began to wrap his chest.

"This should minimize the movements of the bones and make it less painful." She told him. "But you'll also have to stay still for a while to make sure the bones heal correctly."

"Thanks." Shiro sighed. "That creature's still out there. And we don't even know why we're here."

"Then maybe we should get out of here." Keith suggested.

"No." Shiro breathed. "No, there's got to be a reason. The Black Lion brought us here for a reason. And we need to find out what it is."

"Ok," Allura gave in, "but where do we start?" Shiro opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly the Black lion grabbed his attention. Shiro's eyes went blank, staring seemingly at nothing as he rose from his position. Almost like he was a robot, he walked to the Black lion's cockpit. Rising from its sitting position the lion stood up and roared.

"What is he-..ahhhh!!!!" Hunk was interrupted, as the Black Lion suddenly took off running. The Paladins almost lost their balance in the jolt of its sudden movements. Making their way to the cockpit, they saw Shiro was leaned into the controls his eyes fixed straight ahead of him. He seemed to igore the pain of his injuries.

"Wait, shiro." Allura realized. "What about the rest of the lions?" Black turned its head to glance back as it continued to run, only to see the other lions following it. "Incredible." The Princess breathed.

The lions ran shaking the ground as they went, clearly on a mission.

"Where are they going?!" Lance wondered nervously.

"Shiro, what's going on?" Allura asked their leader. No response came.

"Shiro?" Keith said, a little confused. Pidge waved in front of the Black Paladin's face, but still no response.

"Didn't even flinch!?" The Green Paladin was surprised. "He's completely zoned out."

"What does that mean?" Romelle asked. Shiro suddenly moved pulling the lion up over an ice formation and continued on. A storm loomed ahead of them and the wind began to pick up. The snow obscured their visibility, but still they continued as if nothing had changed. Ice rocks tumbled around them, the lions skillfully evaded them. One hit Black in the head knocking them off balance.

"We can't keep this up."

"Tell that to Shiro!" Coran cried sarcastically.

"If he can hear you." Pidge added, also being sarcastic. Another boulder, a bigger one, hit Black aggravating Shiro's broken bones, and jogging him out of the trance he was in.

"Where.." Shiro trailed off. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Lance questioned. Shiro glanced down to the right for a second.

"I'm sorry, I-.. I guess I just dazed out for a second. The Black lion..it's..been communicating with me. But I'm not sure why. It's in my head,... but I can't quite understand what it's looking for. What it wants with me."

"Uh guys, the lions are still going." Pidge reminded them.

"Yeah, but where?" Lance thought aloud.

"I don't know." Shiro answered. "We can barely see a thing." Right then, they came out of the storm and into clear skies "Ok, guess not anymore." Shiro corrected himself, but then he gasped, pulling Black to an immediate halt.

"What is it Shiro?!" Keith wondered quickly, looking up. The team looked up to stare face to face with the remains of the Kerberos mission.

"That's our ship." Shiro sighed in despair. "At least... the scout shuttle." The shuttle was reduced to a scrapheap, it looked as though it had been in a crash. Though Shiro knew that wasn't how he left it. The tripod they'd set up for taking ice samples was now a pile of twisted metal scraps. And the scientific equipment they'd been using was all destroyed and scattered everywhere. Shiro was then zapped back to that time, being on the planet one moment, and in the Galra ship the next. He remembered first seeing the ship and yelling at Matt and Sam to run, and getting sucked up by the tractor beam. Many of his memories of that year flooded back to him in flashes, and randomly at that. He was finally zapped back into reality, he grimaced and painfully putting his head in his hands.

"Shiro are you ok?!" Keith cried frantically. Shiro heard Keith, but it was a little drowned out by the ringing his ears that finally subsided.

"This was our base of operations, during the Kerberos mission." Shiro swallowed hard on his next statement. "This is where we were taken by the Galra." This fact rocked Pidge to the bone.

"So-.. this is where it happened?" She asked softly.

"Yes." Shiro stared at the wreckage in despair, pain and hurt stinging through his heart.

"So what do you want us to do now?" Keith asked finally.

"I going in." Shiro suddenly looked determined.

"Then I'm coming with you." Shiro stared at him in surprise. "I lost you once on this planet, I won't let it happen again."

"Technically kerberos is a moon," pidge corrected. "Which means it's more treacherous to navigate. And with the colder temperatures and that creature that just attacked us makes it even more dangerous."

"Not making me feel better." Keith told her a little frustrated.

"Yeah, Pidge." Lance spoke up, half in a panic. "All we needed to know was the dangerous part."

"But Shiro," Allura stopped them. "Your helmet. We seem to have lost it when Keith fought the clone."

Just then the Black lion roared and a light could be seen coming from the cargo hold. Following the light, they found that a hidden panel in the far right next to the closet had opened revealing another helmet.

"What??" Hunk couldn't believe it.

"The lions carry a spare helmet?!" Lance cried in surprise.

"In case of a emergencies." Pidge concluded. "It makes sense." Taking it out, Shiro put it on.

"Alright Keith And I will go check out the damaged shuttle. The rest of you hang back and watch for any danger. Ice storms, whirlwinds, or if that creature comes back."

"You got it!" Pidge called, giving them a thumbs up, as the two men exited the lion. Black let Keith and Shiro out and pulled up to it's sitting position and waited for them to return. Using their jet packs to get to the shuttle quickly, they disappeared from view on the Black Lion's visual scanners. The lack of gravity, made it easy for them to make their way to what used to be the main control board.

"Ok Shiro what are we doing here?" Keith wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure, but keep looking for anything suspicious, anything that might be important." The two Paladins split ways and searched on opposite sides of the small room.

"There's nothing here." Keith said finally. "Maybe we should get out of here."

"Keith!" Shiro called. "Over here, I found something!" Keith rushed over to him. Shiro had dragged a large case out of the rubble. It was labeled in big orange letters: T.H.E.L.M.A.

"What is it?" Keith was puzzled.

"It's T.H.E.L.M.A."

"What?"

"T.H.E.L.M.A. an experimental helper bot that Sam brought on the mission for a field test. T.H.E.L.M.A. stands for 'The High-tech Economic oscillation Lab of Modern Astrophysics.' It's designed to help run tests and make calculations and other scientific stuff." Shiro opened the crate and pressed the button on the robot's head, or what looked like a head. The bot immediately sprang to life, it hovered in the air. It's long arms ready to assist. It abruptly swung around zeroing in on the two man.

"Identity scan." Its female robotic voice said. A beam of orange light scanned Shiro from head to toe. The robot thought for a moment processing the data it had just collected. "Identity..." the robot beeped. "Lieutenant Takashi Shirogane." It then scanned Keith. "Unidentified! Intruder! intruder!." The bot was about to attack.

"Stop!" Shiro commanded, placing an arm between it and Keith. "This is Keith, he is a friend. Scan for identity clearance." T.H.E.L.M.A. stopped. "Rescanning. Rescanning." It repeated carrying out the order. "Cleared." It said finally.

"Ok we're good." Shiro told Kieth lowering his guard, and his arm. Suddenly the whole ship jerked.

"Maybe not so good." Keith said sarcastically.

"Let's get out of here!!" Shiro called taking off back through the way they came. And Keith instinctively following him, with T.H.E.L.M.A. following close behind. The ground began to crack around the shuttle.

"Oh no!!" Allura breathed, seeing this. "Keith, Shiro you've got to get out of there now!!"

"We know!!" Shiro responded, "we're coming in fast!" The pain in his right side made it difficult to run, and his breathing was also becoming painful too. He began to lag behind, as they saw the exit ahead of them. Keith had just gotten out, when the ground cracked like an egg and fell out from underneath him. The ground shattered like glass, swallowing Keith, Shiro and the lions all at once, sending up a huge cloud of snow and ice.

 **This is where I got stuck for a while but then I got an amazing idea! Hope you guys like it!**


	9. Up From The Ashes

Chapter nine: Up From The Ashes

The dust began to settle, the team began to recover themselves, picking themselves back up off the floor of the Black lion's cargo hold.

"Guys, can you hear me!? Is everyone ok!" Keith called weakly over the com.

"*groan* I think so." Allura answered, but then she gasped. "Keith?!" She ran for the exit, the others looked to see what she saw and immediately turned to run after her. Hastily sprinting from the lion she reached Keith, he had been pinned down by ice boulders and other debris. He was face down with his arms braced against the ground, helping him crane his neck up to see them coming to his aid.

"Shiro!!" Keith breathed. "He's still in there. He's not responding!! We have to help him!"

"We have to help you first." Allura grunted as she pulled another bolder off of him. He struggled to free himself, when...

"Keith?" Keith could barely hear the Black Paladin, but hearing it made him freeze.

"Shiro? Shiro are you there?! Answer me!!" He cried, desperately hoping he wasn't hearing things.

"Keith." Shiro breathed dragging himself up, the rubble sliding off of him as he stood up. "I'm here... what's your status."

"I'm fine." Keith responded getting to his feet again. "And you?" Shiro coughed in the dust that was disrupted.

"I'm alright," he searched the area with his eyes. And to his despair there was T.H.E.L.M.A., crushed under some debris as well. "T.H.E.L.M.A'.s destroyed, Where is everyone?"

"We're digging our way to you now." Keith assured him dragging the rocks away from the blocked entrance.

"I'm on my way too." He tried to push away the rocks to help them but his broken bones stopped him. He grimaced when he felt the burning pain ripple up his side and arm.

"No, you stand back and relax. We'll get you out. You need to rest. We need you to get better... not worse." Keith told him firmly.

"Ok." Shiro breathed, giving in. He then headed back in a little to stay clear from the rocks. He knew they might cave inward, so he didn't want to be there when they did. It wasn't long before the rocks came tumbling down and the team came through.

"Shiro?!" Pidge called into the darkness. The Black Paladin peered around the corner at them.

"You made it." He was relieved to see everyone was there.

"Yeah." Keith smiled. "We did."

"Ok. So now that we're all here." Hunk began, still a little shaken up. "Can anyone tell me what just happened?"

"That creature must have been here a while." Shiro pointed out, gingerly getting to his feet. "The hole we just fell into might be one of its tunnels."

"Hm, maybe." Pidge thought. "But that still doesn't explain why we're here. The Black Lion was drawn here for something, but what is it?..." The girl trailed off, running different possibilities through her intelligent mind.

"Well if that's the case." Allura decided finally. "I say we check it out. Find out what it's doing down here. Maybe we can even get rid of it. That thing clearly doesn't belong here. It may compromise the integrity of the planets structure."

"It's a moon." Pidge corrected, a little frustrated.

"It wouldn't hurt to take a look around." Shiro thought aloud. So the team filed back out into the large cave. Keith stared down the dark cave, first to the left, then to the right.

"This way looks as good as any." He suggested pointing to the right.

"Then let's go." Shiro decided. The Paladins walked together down the silent caves, all that could be heard was the occasional drip of water, and ice falling from the ceiling.

"These caves must stretch for miles." Pidge commented looking at a holomap on her gauntlet. "Who knows how long this creature has been here.

"Well one thing's for sure," Shiro remarked. "It definitely wasn't here the last time I was... I think _it_ would have gotten to us before the Galra did." A howling in the cave made everyone tense, each adopting a warrior stance thinking something was coming. But when it died down, they dropped their guard.

"I don't like this." Allura remarked uneasily. "Maybe this was a bad idea coming down here."

"Well we're here now." Shiro pointed out. "Are we really gonna turn back now?" The paladins looked at one another and continued walking.

A tiny figure peeked out from a hole in the wall, it's eight legs like icy fingers scuffled quietly from its hiding place. It scrambled after the group of intruders. First it was one, than another joined and another and a couple more, then a few more.

"Hey. do you guys hear that?" Keith asked suspiciously, he turned around to look back the way they'd come. But was met by something unexpected. "Woah!" One of the creatures jumped at him, and he swung his arm at it sending it flying. The rest of the team turned around and were engaged by the creatures as well. They swatted the creatures as they climbed onto them, brushing them away only to be replaced by another.

"They just keep coming!!" Hunk cried, stomping them off his legs. Romelle shook them off her and grabbed Lance's shoulders from behind.

"What do we do?!" She whined. Lance them drew his Bayard shooting at the creatures, and they scattered in avoidance. Shiro sliced one with his robotic hand.

"Nice work Lance." He smiled. But feeling something in his shoulder he looked, to see one of the creatures had climbed up his back and over his shoulder. The creature's spider-like legs dug into his suit and it's fangs glowed a light blue as it let out a screech. Shiro suddenly glowed that same blue and a flash of light made him disappear. The creature dropped to the ground and scurrying away.

"Shiro!!" Keith exclaimed. Romelle saw the one was on her shoulder and she and Lance disappeared as well.

"What is happening?!" Allura cried and she too was zapped from view.

"Allura!!" Keith was beginning to panic. Pidge stepped back towards Coran, she looked to the right, Coran to the left. And they both vanished together. And Hunk and Krolia were also zapped away.

"Nooo!!!!!!" Keith screamed falling to his knees, his team was gone and he was all alone. A sniff and a whine reminded him that he wasn't completely alone. Cosmo whined knowing that Keith was upset. "Hey." His voice softened, scratching him around the neck. He then wrapped him in a hug around his shaggy neck. "It's ok, we'll find them."

The Green Paladin pulled her self upright resting one knee on the ground. She coughed and looked up. Coran coughed in the dust as well, he was on his hands and knees.

"Where are we?" Pidge wondered aloud, checking her gauntlet.

"And where are the others?" Coran spluttered.

"I'm not getting a signal we must be too far underground. There's too much interference."

"I guess we'll have to find our own way back." Coran guessed unfortunately. He walked down the tunnel, and Pidge reluctantly followed.

Princess Allura found herself in a dark room, one that seemed to have no way out. She pulled out a flash light and shined it around the room. There were no doors or openings of any kind that she could see. But she wasn't going to give up,... her team needed her.

Lance awoke to Romelle lying flat in her back seemingly unconscious. "Romelle!!" Lance cried, running to her and lifting her upper body off the ground, cradling her delicately. "Are you alright?" The Altean girl's eyes fluttered open slowly.

"I think so." The Altean girl responded, pulling herself up and holding her head. "And you?"

"I'm fine. What happened?" They scanned the area with their eyes.

"I don't know, but we've got to find the others and make sure they're ok."

"Yeah." Lance agreed nodding. "And the best way to find them, is to find the lions."

Hunk and Krolia were searching the walls as they walked down another tunnel.

"How did this happen?" Krolia thought out loud.

"I think it has something to do with those weird bug things." Hunk guessed.

Keith glanced back in the direction of the lions, half hesitant to leave them sprawled out in a chaotic scattered mess. Their eyes were dark and lifeless, having been separated from there paladins. Black sat quietly, waiting for Keith. The Red Paladin looked down the tunnel, then back at Black and back again. He gave a heavy sigh and walked away from the lions and into the darkness. Drawing his Bayard, he crept through the darkness, Cosmo at his heel ready for anything.

Shiro slowly morphed back into consciousness, his vision blurred and hearing ringing. He felt a weight on his chest, that made it difficult to breathe. He realized that nothing was there. _The fall must have knocked the breath out of me when I hit the ground_. He concluded to himself. He dragged himself up to a sitting position. He peered around the room, but it was so dark he couldn't see a thing. He knew he'd have to wait til his eyes adjusted to really get a good look, but he kept his guard up. After all that has happened to him thus far, he knew something more was about to happen. "There's always a reason for everything." His voice softly echoed around him. A sudden vibration and and light coming from the floor gave him the strength the stand. His guard was up and he was on the defensive ready to react any any situation.

"Pidge to Paladins. Guys? Anyone? Guys do you copy?" Pidge called over the com. The static was all that came back. Pidge sighed in despair, when the screen from her gauntlet lit up.

"What is it? Is it one of the Paladins?" Coran asked hopefully.

"No," Pidge replied unfortunately, her hopeful smile fading. "It's just the 3D scan I did on Shiro's arm before we reattached it. It just came up." She studied it for a moment and gasped in disbelief.

 **Hope this story has grabbed you attention by now, cause there's more still to come. Just two chapters left!**


	10. Many Locations, Same Destination

Chapter ten: Many Locations, Same Destination

"Coast is clear." Lance reported, he was in full-on sniper mode, holding his blaster at the ready. Romelle stuck close behind him, a little weary if their surroundings.

"What do you think is down here?" Romelle asked nervously.

"At this point... anything." Lance responded simply, seeming a little distracted. He had to stay sharp. After those creatures' attacks, he was prepared for anything else that would decide to come after them.

A fist burst through a wall, the glowing pink fading to be replaced with the all too familiar darkness. Allura gazed into the darkness and strode down it, to search for a way out.

Keith stood stalk-still about to peer around a bend in the main tunnel. Stealing a quick look, he saw no one there so he continued on.

"Ok, come on." He said, motioning to Cosmo. The static in his com fluctuated into a voice.

"Hello? Does anyone copy, over."

"Pidge!! Pidge, it's me,.. Keith!"

"Keith?" The static cracked again. "Yes I'm here!! What happened to everyone?!"

"It's so good to hear your voice!!" Keith sighed happily. "Where are you? Have you heard from the others?"

"No, but I have Coran with me. I've been trying to reach you and the others. But I think something is interfering with our communication systems. We seem to have been teleported to another cave in the tunnel systems down here."

"Pidge?" Hunk's voice could be heard through the staticky coms.

"Hunk!" Keith cried with relief. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm good, Krolia too."

"Guys?!" The Blue Paladin could finally hear them.

"Lance!!" Hunk and Pidge exclaimed together.

"Romelle too." Lance confirmed. "What happened?!"

"I don't know, but we must be close to each other, which is why we can finally hear each other." Keith guessed. "The walls of the caves must have some components that limit our communication range."

"Paladins!! I can hear you!! Are you alright?!" The Princess was so relieved to hear their voices.

"Allura!! Thank goodness!" Keith was elated to hear her voice cut through the static.

"Great, so everyone's alright." Hunk concluded.

"Actually no." Pidge corrected. "Has anyone heard from Shiro?" Keith's eyes widened in realization.

"Shiro? Shiro, can you hear me? Shiro?!" Keith called desperately over the com. The other end sounded fuzzy, but no voice came from it. "Nothing." Keith spat in frustration.

"That doesn't mean anything." Lance reminded him quickly. "He could have, lost his helmet or is unconscious or maybe he's somewhere beyond our scanner's reach."

"No, this is bad!" Pidge corrected him intensely. "Really bad. We have to find him now. Before it's too late!"

"Too late? Why?" Keith was confused.

"When we did our diagnostics on Shiro's arm before reattachment we missed something."

"What?"

"A crystal."

"No we didn't," Allura recalled. "We found the Galra crystal and figured out that it was the power source for Shiro's arm."

"Yes, but we missed the Altean crystal."

"What?!" The team gasped together.

"How do you know this?" Keith asked defensively.

"A 3D scan I did on Shiro's arm before putting it back on." Pidge reported.

"And you're just telling us this now?!" Lance was frustrated.

"I'm sorry but the scan didn't come back til now."

"So what does that mean?" Lance's tone lowered.

"It means whoever controlled the clone still has a way to do it. And can destroy him if they desire to." Allura explained gravely.

"Then we need to find him and each other before that happens." Keith decided with determination.

Shiro was frozen, as if his feet were glued to the ground. A blue energy spread like veins in a special pattern on the ground around him. A giant symbol perhaps, one with which he didn't recognize at all. The blue light intensified, as it spread even more. The energy seemed to float up in small bubbles, even passing up through his body. He suddenly felt restored, his realization was interrupted by the light becoming a big flash. He was then engulfed in this bright light which blinded him, and he shielded his eyes.

Lance and Romelle snuck around another bend, and something did come to meet them. "A dead end." Lance sighed.

"Same here." Pidge reported. Placing her palm on the rock wall in front of her.

"Mine is as well." Allura observed.

"Yep," Hunk stared at the wall before him.

"Yeah mine too." Keith said, putting a hand to the rock wall blocking him in.

"So now what?" Lance asked the group.

"Is there anyway to break through?" Keith questioned studying the grooves in the rock.

"We don't even know what's on the other side." Pidge reminded them.

"Or if there is an other side." Hunk added. Keith put an ear to the wall.

"Sound." He whispered to himself. "Can anyone else hear something on the other side of the wall?" Keith inquired. The other Paladins also listened carefully.

"I can hear something!" Pidge was surprised.

"Me too." Hunk realized.

"Yeah, me too." Lance agreed. "I think there might be a way to break through."

"Yeah," Hunk and Pidge agreed in unison. They four Paladins drew their bayards and Keith laid a hand on Cosmo's head and neck.

"Everybody ready?!" Keith began. "One, two, three!" Hunk and Lance shot their bayard blasters, Pidge and Allura shot their cable bayards and pulled down the rocks, and Keith and Cosmo teleported through the wall.

"Shiro!!" Keith saw Shiro immediately, he ran hastily to him as the others emerged from the dust. Shiro grabbed Keith's forearm with his left hand and pulled himself up. He coughed as he recovered himself.

"Shiro?" Keith was confused. "Doesn't that hurt? I thought your arm was broken."

"It is, I-" Shiro froze. He looked at his and flexed with his palm facing him. He pressed against his side, no pain?!

"Shiro?" Lance was beginning to freak out again.

"I'm fine." Shiro breathed. "I'm fine! It- it doesn't hurt anymore!!" He was astounded by this. He flexed his hand again. "Amazing!... I feel great!!" The team smiled, all but Hunk.

"Wait, wait, hold on a second." He gestured with his hands in front of his body. "How did this happen? We've been separated for what? Ten minutes? How is he suddenly better. And where exactly is here?" Allura stepped forward and placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder, it glowed blue for a second then faded away again.

"He's been alchemically restored." The Princess told them.

"By who?" Lance wondered suspiciously. Just then, an evil laugh echoed around them, one they recognized all too well.

"So, you did decide to fall into my trap." Haggar appeared before them just a few yards from their position. The Paladins drew their bayards, ready to fight. Shiro activated his arm was well. The witch just scowled at him.

"You should have left when you had the chance!" She snarled. She lifted her hand up outstretching it towards them. Dark energy glowed from her palm, Shiro felt something happening but wasn't unsure of what. His arm glowed purple as though something had taken a hold of it. Haggar magically dragged him closer to her.

"Shiro!!" Keith screamed. Haggar dropped Shiro on the ground halfway between the Paladins and herself, his hand still glowing. He suddenly felt her inside his head, he held his head in his hands trying to fight it.

"You cannot resist for long." Haggar told him increasing her influence.

"Fight it, Shiro!!" Keith cried, feeling powerless. His entire right arm was engulfed in a bright purple light. Keith's eyes widened in recognition, "No." Shiro's arm transformed as it had when he fought the clone. The influence of Haggar overwhelming him. Keith hurried to him, Keith stood about a foot from him. "Shiro!" He coaxed, hoping he could fight the Witch's power. Shiro's eyes turned Galra purple.

"No?!" He cried, feeling Haggar's influence consume him. And without warning, he attacked Keith sending him back toward the team.

"Shiro?!" Lance was horrified by his.

"He is mine now." Haggar told him as Shiro stood up again. Shiro cried out and hunched over again.

"Lance!!" He groaned through the witch's control. "Go... run... now!!!!" He knelt down and picked up a rock. Thrusting it at Haggar she deflected it. He fell to his knees feeling a little relief. "Get-..out-..of-..here?!" He told the others, through gritted teeth.

"We're not leaving here without you!!" Keith insisted. Suddenly a rumbling noise made everyone look up. The wall from which Keith and Cosmo had teleported through burst open. And from it, emerged the lions of Voltron, there to rescue their Paladins and their allies.

"You are a fool if you think your lions will stop me." Haggar spat her eyes glowing that sinister yellow. And then from the ground below, just behind the witch, the Granipede emerged with a loud roar. And joining it, were those strange bug creatures that had separated them earlier.

"Oh no." Keith breathed, his eyes wide with fear.

 **The end is near! Laeve**

 **Your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Thx!**


	11. Freedom!

Chapter eleven: Freedom!

The bug creatures surrounded the Granipede, taking the shape of some other giant creature. It had large wings that seemed to stretch for miles inside this cave, and it's short short neck and it's long, dragon-like face split into a roar.

"Everyone get to the lions." Keith commanded after seeing this. And they tore headlong back toward the lions, but Shiro still remained. Still overcome by the witch's control, he continued to fight her.

"Wait, what about Shiro?" Lance asked, reaching the Red lion.

"We can't leave him here." Allura agreed.

"We're not," Keith assured them. "We have to take down the witch to free Shiro from her control."

"Are you nuts!?" Pidge cried in pure shock. "We can't go up against her!! She's much too powerful, even for Voltron. Remember she was the one that used the Komarr to suck the energy right out of Voltron."

"Then what _can_ we do?" Lance wondered aloud.

"I can hack into Shiro's arm and disconnect the crystals' conduits." The Green Paladin began flipping through screens on her dash.

"And what will that do?" Keith was confused.

"The Altean crystal allows that witch the control Shiro's arm's circuitry, and the Galra crystal powers his arm. The two combined together via the conduit shaft that drills the tips of them together creates the means for Haggar to control Shiro, probably the same way she was able to control the clone."

"So that's how she did it!!" Allura gasped in anger and frustration. "And the secrets of Oriande helped her gain more alchemic knowledge to hone those skills."

"Ok great," Hunk chimed in sarcastically. "But I think we have other more important things to be worrying about. Like, oh I don't know, THOSE GIANT CREEPY SNARLING CREATURES THAT WANT TO KILL US!!" The giant manifestation charged toward them and the lions scattered to avoid it.

"Lance, Hunk, Allura, we need to keep that thing busy, I'll cover Pidge." Keith commanded, pulling Black backwards toward the Green lion. The Red, Blue and Yellow Paladins thrust their lions forward to fight the creatures.

"I'm in, but I won't be able to shut it down."

"So how can you stop it?" Keith afraid to hear the answer.

"I can't. Not without destroying the arm at least." Keith stared at the ground his eyebrows tensed.

"Do it." He pulled Black over and thrust him toward Shiro. Pidge tapped at the screen preparing the sequence.

"Ok I've sent his arm to overload in ten seconds." She told him.

"Copy that I'm on it." Keith responded, leaving the cockpit of the Black lion.

Shiro was still fighting Haggar's control, when suddenly he froze. Something felt different, something... changed, but he wasn't sure what. His thoughts were interrupted by the Black Lion's mouth opening and Keith lunging out. SLICE!! Shiro's robotic arm was severed from his body once again, and suddenly he felt relief. Keith immediately grabbed Shiro and ran for Black.

"Noooo!!" Haggar wailed in her defeat.

"Ok team!! Let's get out of here!" Keith called, taking his place back in the cockpit of the lion. The lions gathered together in a circle and blasted the ceiling of the cave.

The surface of Kerberos was silent until a CRASH and a BANG shattered the silence. And out flew the lions, the creature's followed and Haggar appeared on the surface. A Galra cruiser hovered just inside the atmosphere above them.

"Great we're trapped in every direction." Lance groaned in frustration.

"Not if there were less of us." Keith said, hinting at something. The team seemed to read his mind, as they flew in formation. "Form Voltron!!" He cried pulling Black up. Coming back down as the Mighty robot they looked for the Galra ship.

"I have a visual on the Galra cruiser." Pidge reported, zooming in on it from her lion. They heard a screeching roar and turned just as the creatures took them by surprise. Becoming a ball of white they began to glow blue and were zapped away. Haggar's face tensed in the frustration of defeat.

The bug creatures scattered dropping Voltron on the surface of the planet they had left only a few days earlier. They left the Granipede, taking off but suddenly in the distance fell to the ground.

"What's happening?" Keith was puzzled.

"I think it's the atmosphere!" Pidge realized. "It's like a poison for these creatures, because of the unique components in the air."

"Then why isn't it affecting the that thing?!" Hunk cried, as the Granipede plunged toward them. The team evaded the creature's attack.

"I guess it's immunity is high enough to be able to breathe the air just fine." Pidge guessed.

"So how do we beat it?" Keith wondered aloud.

In the Black Lion's cargo hold, Coran laid Shiro down in the pod they had used for the clone, but he didn't activate it. Shiro then tried to get up.

"I need to help them." He gasped, trying to push Coran aside.

"No way!" Krolia laid him back down, with a hand on his chest. "You need time to recover." The Black Paladin reluctantly relaxed, knowing he wasn't going anywhere.

The Granipede roared at Voltron.

"What isn't it tunneling through the ground?" Lance wondered, unsure why he creature wasn't behaving the same as it had before.

"This new environment may be why it's acting different." Pidge guessed.

"But now that gives us the edge we've been looking for." Keith reasoned. "Form sword!!"

Lance drew is bayard and the sword blazed from the Red and Green lions' jaws.

"Alright." Keith said finally. "Let's finish this!" The Paladins pushed Voltron headlong toward the creature readying the sword. Pointing the blade forward, they charged through the air, like a jouster towards his opponent. The Granipede lunged toward them, Voltron swung around and sliced right through the creature. The power of the sword made it glow gold and explode behind Voltron, just as it had with the robeast back on Arus. When the dust had cleared Voltron stood up from its warrior stance, and looked back to where the creature once stood.

"We did!!" Pidge cried excitedly. The team cheered, surprised and relieved after all that had happened. But that joy soon turned to concern, when the lions disbanded and landed roughly on the ground.

"The lions are very low on power." Allura sighed. Keith heard a groan from behind him. Recognizing it, he jumped from his seat immediately rushing to the back.

"Shiro!" The Black Paladin looked pale and sweaty. He was relaxed but only because he was too weak to move, and he looked sick. His expression was still and miserable, as though he'd been suffering for a while. Keith felt dread creep into his body.

"His consciousness hasn't fully merged with the clone body." Allura told the team, when they joined Keith, Krolia and Coran in the Black Lion's cargo hold. "That's part of the reason why he's been.. out of sorts lately. But a few days in here should clear that up. I hope." Allura typed at the panel on the pod ready to activate it, when Shiro grabbed Keith forearm.

"Keith," he breathed, quietly. "Ever thought you'd become like me." He gave a weak smile. Keith returned one softly.

"I knew I'd have help." He smiled. Shiro chuckled weakly, then let his hand drop to his side inside the pod. The pod's blue shield crystallized over Shiro and he slowly fell asleep.

"The lions are very low on power." Allura remarked. "So we'll have to stay here until we can figure out what to do next."

"At least we're still together." Keith said softly, his gaze not leaving Shiro. "We'll figure this out, eventually. Then we'll head back to earth, to finish what we started. At home." The team stood there silently watching Shiro for a moment, before heading out to their own lions, to get ready to go to sleep.

~Renewal~

 **Well fanfic fans, that's it, the final chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it, and be sure to keep an eye out, cause more fanfics are on their way! And thank you sooo much for reading my work! Thx!**


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